function objects

Microscopy is the science of producing and observing images of objects that cannot be seen by the unaided eye. A microscope is an instrument which produces the image. The primary function of a microscope is to resolve, that is distinguish, two closely spaced objects as separate. The secondary function of a microscope is to magnify. Microscopy has developed into an exciting field with numerous applications in biology, geology, chemistry, physics, and technology.

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The most common, inexpensive, and easy to use microscope is the light microscope, which produces a magnified image of the object by bending and focusing light rays. The light microscope uses a variety of glass lenses to produce a magnified image that is focused before the eye. The magnifying properties of a converging lens, like that which is used in a typical magnifying glass or camera. Light fro…

Since the time of the Romans, it was realized that certain shapes of glass had properties that could magnify objects. By the year 1300, these early crude lenses were being used as corrective eyeglasses. It wasn't until the late 1500s, however, that the first compound microscopes were developed. Robert Hooke (1635-1703) was the first to publish results on the microscopy of plants and animals…

In the mid-1920s, Louis de Broglie (1892-1966) suggested that electrons, as well as other particles, should exhibit wave like properties similar to light. Experiments on electron beams a few years later confirmed de Broglie's hypothesis. Electrons behave like waves. Of importance to microscopy was the fact that the wavelength of electrons is typically much smaller than the wavelength of lig…

In the early 1980s, a new technique in microscopy was developed which did not involve beams of electrons or light to produce an image. Instead, a small metal tip is scanned very close to the surface of a sample and a tiny electric current is measured as the tip passes over the atoms on the surface. The microscope that works in this manner is the scanning tunneling microscope (STM). When a metal ti…

There have been numerous variations on the types of microscopy outlined so far. A sampling of these is: acoustic microscopy, which involves the reflection of sound waves off a specimen; x-ray microscopy, which involves the transmission of x rays through the specimen; near field optical microscopy, which involves shining light through a small opening smaller than the wavelength of light; and atomic…

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